The Best Investment Banks To Work For In 2018

Evercore, an investment banking advisory firm, was named the top destination for a summer internship in Vault.com’s 2017 ranking

EVERCORE EXCELS IN TRAINING AND DIVERSITY

Goldman Sachs can’t afford to be complacent though, not with Evercore gaining ground each year. Ranked 27th just six years ago, Evercore climbed two more spots in 2018 to rank 2nd overall. In fact, just .069 of a point separates Evercore from Goldman Sachs. To put that in context, Evercore’s overall score rose by .20 of a point in the past year (and .588 in the past two).

By the numbers, it was a banner year for Evercore. It ranked among the Top 5 firms in 19 of 23 workplace categories. Even more, it produced higher scores over the previous year in all but one workplace category. Evercore’s biggest progress was made in international opportunities and hours, where it improved by over a third of a point. Like previous years, Evercore ranked 1st in formal training, snagging the top spot in informal training as well.

Training wasn’t the firm’s only strength. It ranked 2nd in both leadership and culture and 3rd in business outlook, a testament to the firm’s vision, values, and execution. Evercore also placed 2nd in internal mobility and promotion policies, a clear sign that employees were receiving opportunities and being rewarded for their successes. Like Goldman Sachs, Evercore excelled in diversity, ranking second in all but LGBT (where it finished 4th). Not surprisingly, Evercore respondents were among the most satisfied employees in the survey.

PRESTIGE ONLY BARRIER TO EVERCORE HOLDING THE TOP SPOT

“We have an outstanding, very teamwork-oriented, and collaborative culture,” writes one survey respondent. “The firm is filled with very intelligent people treating each other with respect and working together to give clients the best advice possible. The atmosphere is very positive—lots of high fives on wins and no dressing-down calls if you miss a piece of business.”

Like any boutique advisory firm, Evercore still wrestles with the tradeoffs inherent to a growing firm and the urgency that defines investment banking. “We try to help people balance their lives as best we can,” adds the same respondent, “but we have so much deal flow that it can be tough.”

Although Evercore has successfully cultivated a supportive performance-based culture, it still lags behind Goldman Sachs in popular opinion (aka prestige) — which accounts for 40% of its ranking. Here, Goldman Sachs outpoints Evercore by an 8.960-to-6.933 margin. That’s checkmate. Chop the weight of prestige by 15%, however, and Evercore would hold the crown in the Vault Banking 50.

CENTERVIEW HOLDS ITS OWN…DESPITE BEING 1% THE SIZE OF GOLDMAN SACHS

So might Centerview Partners, which finished a miniscule .003 of a point behind Evercore. Just a decade old, Centerview Partners is a boutique firm with just 280 employees. In other words, it is less than a fifth the size of Evercore…with roughly 34,000 fewer employees than Goldman Sachs. Despite this, Centerview Partners continues to hold its own, working on high profile deals involving major names like General Electric, Anheuser Busch InBev, Time Warner, and Johnson Controls. In the process, it held the 3rd spot — even improving its overall score —thanks to across-the-board excellence.

Blair Effron, co-founder of Centerview Partners

Last year, Centerview Partners ranked 1st in nine workplace categories. In 2018, it was able to hold onto the top spot in nine of them: Ability to Challenge, Compensation, Culture, Firm Leadership, Hiring Process, Internal Mobility, Promotion Policies, Relationships with Managers, and Overall Job Satisfaction. In fact, Centerview Partners produced the highest score in any category — 9.855 — when it comes to firm leadership. What’s more, it scored Top 3 finishes in every non-diversity category except CSR initiatives (where it still ranked a respectable 7th).

Among Vault survey respondents, Centerview was feted for its “meritocracy,” “high profile deals,” exposure to senior staff,” “and “client facing experience,” For one partner in the mergers and acquisitions arm of the firm, Centerview exemplifies what makes Wall Street great. “There is a true sense of camaraderie and partnership and the apprenticeship culture is live and well,” the survey respondent wrote. “Since there is such strong investment in the team, the quality of the work is that much stronger since the team is happier and invigorated….For those people who want lots of responsibility, their opinions to matter, work on important transactions with great people and to be well compensated, there is no better place than Centerview.”

Go to next page to see the Vault Banking 50 prestige ranking.